THE Catholic priest who was the inspiration behind the horror classic The Exorcist died from a fall after speaking to a “possessed” child in America, a former CIA agent has claimed.

Robert Marrow, a friend of Father Malachi Martin, revealed the priest was effectively killed when a “possessed” four-year-old girl he was meant to be exorcising spoke to him in the US.

In an upcoming documentary, former CIA agent Mr Marrow retraced events when Father Martin had offered to perform an exorcism on the girl.

The girl is meant to have walked up to the priest and said: 'So you're Malachi Martin - and you think you can help her?', suggesting she was talking while having an out-of-body experience.

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Malachi Martin in 1996, believed to be the inspiration behind The Exorcist

After the exorcism in 1999 in America, Fr Martin suffered a fall and a head trauma that would later lead to his death.

He said the fall was caused after an invisible force had pushed him.

The incident was explored in the new documentary Hostage to the Devil, which features interviews with witnesses of exorcisms.

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A scene from The Exorcist, actor Max von Sydow performs the exorcism

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Malachi Martin who performed numerous exorcisms in America

Producer Rachel Lysaght recalled how Fr Martin had his first encounter with exorcism while in Egypt working on a book, The Scribal of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

She said: “There was an exorcism happening but the assistant to an exorcist had in fact fainted in the course of a rite being carried out on a young man and Malachi was called upon as someone who was nearby to come and assist in that exorcism.

“So he did and that was the first exorcism that he assisted with.”

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The classic image from the film The Exorcist before the priest enters the house

Father Martin, who was originally from County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland hired himself out as an exorcist and is widely believed to be the inspiration for the 1973 film which saw Academy Award-winning actor Max von Sydow, now 87, play the priest.

It is not the first time the 1973 cult classic has been linked to creepy curses.

The Exorcist actors Jack MacGowran, and Vasiliki Maliaros both died while the film was in post-production.